


Theseus and the Minotaur

by dngrs_untld_hrdshps_unnmbrd



Category: Destiny (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 18:31:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11857239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dngrs_untld_hrdshps_unnmbrd/pseuds/dngrs_untld_hrdshps_unnmbrd
Summary: Greek myth retelling. Lord Shaxx travels into the labyrinth atop Felwinter peak to face his old adversary and lost love, the Iron Lord gone mad.





	Theseus and the Minotaur

Zavala looked up expectantly as Shiro-4 entered the Vanguard room. The Exo shook his head. ‘They’re all dead, commander.’

‘All of them?’

‘Every single one. They didn’t make it more than a hundred feet into the labyrinth before the splicers got them. I heard them screaming. And I heard Saladin laughing.’

Zavala pressed his clenched fists against the desk. Fourteen Guardians had been sent in to try and take back the maze atop Felwinter Peak from SIVA and the mad lord, but like every other Fireteam they’d been slain.

His voice heavy with regret, he said, ‘There’s nothing else to be done. Felwinter Peak is to be abandoned to SIVA and Lord Saladin.’

Lord Shaxx had been listening to the conversation and stepped forward. ‘No. One more attempt. I’ll go, and I’ll go alone.’

The commander frowned. ‘It would be a suicide mission. I can’t allow it.’

But the tall titan was firm. ‘It’s not down to you to allow or disallow.’

Shiro hesitated. ‘Commander, Lord Shaxx is right. SIVA won’t stay contained within the labyrinth forever. Either we end it, or it ends us.’

‘No one who has gone into the maze has ever come out again,’ Zavala pointed out.

But Shaxx had already turned away, his mind made up.

* * *

When Shaxx arrived later that day at Felwinter Peak snow was swirling, almost concealing the entrance to the maze. All seemed silent, for now. He looked beyond the walls to the temple where the mad lord dwelt, and drew his axe.

The splicers were waiting for him the moment he stepped into the labyrinth. Every other Fireteam had tried to fight their way through, picking off enemies one by one, and every team had failed.

‘Ghost, plot a course. Once I start running I won’t be able to stop or double back.’

His Ghost whirred nervously and floated up above the walls. ‘All right. Ready when you are.’

Shaxx roared and charged, his axe raised. He cut down Splicers in his path and left many more in his wake as he traversed the maze at a run. His Ghost fed him directions, telling him when to turn left and right. The splicers and shanks fired upon him and his armour took many hits but never enough to fell him, and soon he was nearing the centre of the maze.

He came out into an open area and the temple columns were before him. Saladin was waiting for him, a beast of a man in gold armour and a horned helmet. The mad lord snorted with fury at the intruder, put his head down and charged.

Shaxx raised his axe, preparing to strike, but at the last second he dropped his weapon and stood prone, arms at his sides. The mad lord hit him at full tilt and they went flying, and crashed into a wall.

Saladin saw that Shaxx was beneath him and undefended, his throat was exposed. He angled his head to gore the man with one of his horns but it had broken off as they hit the wall and nothing happened. Saladin reared back, confused.

Surprised to find that he was still alive, Shaxx whispered, ‘It wasn’t your fault she died.’

Saladin roared, his hands braced on Shaxx’s shoulders, ready to strangle him with his bare hands.

In a quiet, steady voice, Shaxx went on. ‘Why did you never see that I love you? You prefer to stay here with her memory than be with me.’

The beast snarled, but didn’t move. With tentative hands Shaxx reached up to pull the one-horned helmet off. He touched Saladin’s cheeks, his lips. With his free hand he pulled off his own helmet and they looked into each others eyes for the first time in hundreds of cycles.

‘I’m a monster,’ Saladin growled. ‘I belong here.’

Shaxx traced the lines of Saladin’s face, happy that this would be the last sight he would see. ‘Then kill me. I submit.’

The monster growled. But his bite, when it came, was a kiss.

* * *

Shaxx led Saladin into the Vanguard room, the monster’s horned helmet under his arm. Saladin couldn’t meet Zavala’s eyes, but when he felt the man’s arms around his neck he knew that he was forgiven.

‘Welcome home, old friend.’ The Vanguard leader smiled at his former mentor, and beckoned Shiro-4 over. ‘Send a Fireteam to Felwinter Peak and clear SIVA out of the labyrinth.’

Saladin called after the Exo, ‘And destroy the maze. It’s not how I want it to be anymore. I have other plans.’

Shaxx and Saladin walked out of the Vanguard room together. ‘What are we going to do with this?’ Shaxx asked, showing Saladin the broken, one-horned helmet.

The iron lord looked bitter. ‘That’s not who I am anymore. I wish I could forget everything that I’ve done. I’m so ashamed.’

Shaxx stopped and placed his hand on the other man’s cheek. ‘No regrets. And I don’t want to forget what happened in the centre of that maze. Ever.’ He pulled the helmet onto his head and looked down at his lover.

‘What do you think? Does it suit me?’

* * *

_Thank you for reading! xx_


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